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Canopy Shut Switch

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BigglesRV7A

Well Known Member
Fellow builders,

Just wondering if anyone has installed a canopy closed/open switch to their RV?
I would like to wire a canopy 'ajar' switch into my AFS-3400 EFIS to alarm with the canopy open. Specifically I would like a photo's of how you have installed the switch detailing bracketing and functionality etc.

Cheers, Greg:)

RV-7A IOF-360 WW200RV
 
BigglesRV7A said:
Fellow builders,

Just wondering if anyone has installed a canopy closed/open switch to their RV?
I would like to wire a canopy 'ajar' switch into my AFS-3400 EFIS to alarm with the canopy open. Specifically I would like a photo's of how you have installed the switch detailing bracketing and functionality etc.

Cheers, Greg:)

RV-7A IOF-360 WW200RV
Click to expand...
Greg,

Post #1 and #12 on this thread will show you how I did it:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?p=154939#post154939
 
Greg, I think you want to think about what you want to check for.

On my -4, if you look at this picture, you will see a hole between two screw heads on the extreme LH side of the panel. Behind it is a microswitch which is only closed when a rod - part of the locking mechanism attached to the canopy - pushes through the hole and holds it shut. It only moves the switch when it is completely through. So the condition I am measuring is a) the canopy is shut, and b) the lock is in place. In the event the switch does not close I get a verbal warning from the AFS and the right hand warning light 'canopy' lights up. (I was waiting for a LED when the picture was taken.) Its populated now.

To me that the canopy is shut AND locked is one of the mot crucial pre takeoff checks.
 
Tip-up canopy 'ajar' indication

Thanks Rick, Mike and Steve for your input.

Your right Steve I need to have a means of confirming both the canopy is closed AND locked. Not sure what might be the best way to achieve this though Mike's set-up may at least work for me. With the mechanism in the locked position, the tip-up canopy is either locked closed or open beyond the first catch (TAXI) position.

Cheers,

Greg :)
 
Shut AND locked....

Greg, if it were me, because I think a unlocked canopy could really spoil your day, I would set it up so you get a red light if it is not shut AND locked.

The easy way to do that on a -7 is two micro switches in parallel, either of which can let the power through to the red light. One to monitor SHUT, the other LOCKED in the sense that the lock is in the locked position. Sorry if I am stating the obvious.

I did have a -9a with a tipper, and if I remember correctly what I did there was put a switch on the canopy which sensed the presence of the lock tab which was attached to the fuse'. In principal the same as my -4. It was harder to set up though.
 
Here are a few pictures of how I did mine. Wired through the Normally Closed Contacts it indicates on my annunciator when the canopy is NOT closed and locked. It works pretty well.

http://www.myrv7.com/viewlog.php?year=2005&month=2

It might be a little hard to tell, but the mounting holes for the switch are not used. The plate just clamps the switch in place against the roll bar. This gave me the ability to adjust the position of the switch in two dimensions. It's pretty fiddly to get it set right but I haven't touched it since.
 
Been brainstorming a solution for the RV-8 canopy latch, and haven't really come up with anything that would be: 1) simple 2) cheap 3) reliable

The -4 solution with the microswitch in the latch hole is ideal. Unfortunately, the -8's latch doesn't work that way. And trying to mount a switch which would make contact with the canopy latch could likely be easily damaged through normal ingress/egress or unnecessarily complicated.

I guess the best solution is to just have it on the checklist. Having taken off with it unlatched once was a sufficient lesson for me ... "Hmmm ... why is it abnormally LOUD in here ...?" :eek:
 
My approach

Don,
I put a switch on the canopy on my 8 and rigged it so that the roller on the left side actuates the switch. I've have it set so that you have to lock the handle (this pulls the canopy in the last little bit) before the light goes OFF.

Works pretty well.
 
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